Football Exercises: Drills

An exceptional football player uses practice and dedication to excel at his sport. No matter what position you play, football drills will help you increase speed, agility and eye-hand coordination. Drills can be done at home during the offseason or as a group during regular football season practice sessions. Combining these drills with nutritional eating and weight training is ideal for optimal football performance.

  1. Speed Drills

    • Fast football players get the ball to the end zone without getting tackled or can tackle an opposing quarterback before the release of the ball. Speed drills concentrate on building muscle strength and increasing muscle contraction speeds.

      Through the use of plyometrics drills, players are able to increase both strength and contraction speeds. Plyometrics uses jumping exercises to increase muscle response speeds.

      Speed drills include sprints. Time a measured short distance between 20 and 40 yards. Establishing an initial time in this sprint distance, then have players continue to run nine more sprints with walking breaks as they return to the starting line. It is useful to reassess sprint times on a weekly basis to show progress.

      In plyometrics drills, stand with knees slightly bent and feet wider than shoulders. Jump up and twist to face the opposite direction, 180 degrees in a circle. Squatting down between twists will intensify this exercise. Do 25 to 50 of these jumping squats.

    Agility Drills

    • Agility is similar to speed because it involves moving quickly, but agility exercises concentrate on the core of a player's body and often include instability exercises. Agility drills can help players catch balls when they are jumping or landing on one foot, so they are also useful in helping players become more responsive on the playing field.

      One agility drill is called shuffling. Players start with one hand on the ground and squatting. They remain squatting as they shuffle to the left and touch the ground, then shuffle back to the right and touch the ground. Continue for 10 complete shuffles.

      Another agility skill is the bosu squat. The player stands on the bosu ball, or other flattened exercise ball, while doing this exercise. The round-shaped half ball is not stable. Players use their core stomach and back muscles to maintain balance while squatting and touching the ball with one hand. This exercise can be intensified by only using one leg to do the squats.

    Catching Drills

    • Not all football players have to catch the ball as part of the game, but for receivers, this is one of the most crucial skills they need. Catching drills can be as simple as someone throwing the ball and the player catching it. To build the high level of eye-hand coordination and distance training, these drills are more helpful.

      There is a the quick fire drill. Using team quarterbacks, or coaches, have several players throw balls at the receiver only a few seconds apart. The receiver will need to move and think quickly in order to catch each of the balls. Moving farther apart will intensify this drill.

      Another drill is the long shot. Position the receiving player on the 20-yard line and have one or two quarterbacks throw the ball into the end zone. Timing should allow the receiver to return to the 20-yard line after each catch attempt. Quarterbacks should attempt to throw the ball far enough away so the receiver gets practice timing his running with longer throws.